Recent Scholarly Activity
Research Projects
"Simulation Training for Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit Teams: Active Learning to Promote Best Practice"
Dr. Laurie LeClair leads a project to develop a novel, innovative curriculum where by medical student and resident education in the ICU is achieved in conjunction with other members of the multidisciplinary team in an effort to promote team building through active learning and case-based simulation. The cases will be built from 'real life' patient experiences, include members of the multidisciplinary care team and utilize high-fidelity simulation, simulated patients/family members, electronic medical records (EMR) and radiology.
Influence of Patient Demeanor on Clinical Performance and Medical Education: Results From a Clinical Simulation Pilot Study
Results from a pilot study designed to investigate how variations in provider-patient interactions affect the performance of technical and non-technical skills were presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the New England Surgical Society. The study examined the influence of patient demeanor on clinical performance and medical education. In the study, Drs. Andrew Eyre, Ted James and Cate Nicholas showed that when treating standardized patients portraying frustration, even in a simulated environment, students were less likely to complete important aspects of the history and physical exam. Additionally, students working with 'frustrated' patients reported feeling more nervous and were less likely to achieve educational value from the clinical interaction.
Improving Clinical Communication
Ted James, M.D., Director of Clinical Simulation and Professor of Surgery, and Celia Cohen, R.N., M.S.N., an educator in Central Nursing and Research Education at The University of Vermont Medical Center jointly developed an educational program to enhance clinical communication between physicians and nurses and help prevent patient safety mishaps by teaching health communication, teamwork and inter-professional skills required to optimize patient care. The program uses a series of simulated clinical management scenarios and "mock pages" – alerts sent to pagers – at the start of each clinical scenario chosen from standardized and peer-reviewed clinical cases. Participants have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback from faculty on their clinical assessment and communication skills during these scenarios. Debriefing sessions that reinforce teamwork and communication teaching points take place following each session.